


Off the Path

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Number The Stars [28]
Category: Numb3rs, Stargate Atlantis, Thoughtcrimes (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 05:21:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7562005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Thoughtcrimes/Stargate Atlantis(/Numb3rs), Freya McAllister/Ronon Dex, there was something both wild and at the same time peaceful about Ronon."</p><p>Ronon and Freya have been walking the same path for a long time, and they decide to step off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off the Path

Freya wasn't in love with Ronon, and she knew he wasn't in love with her. She knew, however, that he was recovering from seven years of isolation, from touch starvation and from unbearable solitude. She'd suffered the same isolation and touch starvation while she was in the mental hospital, and she still hadn't quite recovered from it. Ronon was a study in contradictions, constant restless movement, but his mind was quiet, still. It was like he thought with his body - as long as he was moving, he was alive, he was thinking. Only when he was still did his mind start to circle and buzz. She didn't do much more than skim the surface to get used to his presence, so she could locate him on missions when they got separated.  
  
She had good mental control, was better at it after having spent so much time teaching Teyla, and even after Atlantis had thrown a wrench into her gift - her ability to see truth and lies whether she wanted to or not - she finally felt like she was in an okay place. Except Atlantis wasn't the kind of okay place for a girl to start trying to date. The truth was, Freya had only ever dated Charlie since high school, and even then it hadn't been a traditional courtship. They'd worked together, they respected each other, the intensity of their work turned into intensity between them, and suddenly she was getting to do all the things her friends had done back in high school - making out with boys, holding hands, watching movies, going out to fancy dinners.  
  
Charlie had respected her desire to not have sex, assuming it was cultural or religious (and for Amita, it was). But Freya didn't have those social strictures holding her back. What was holding her back was her gift. Her curse. If she let her focus slip at all, she'd be flooded with too much. It was why she rarely slept well, why Brendan let her sleep in. At night, she dreamed other people's dreams.  
  
Atlantis had a lot of people, and a lot of them had bad dreams.  
  
Freya wondered, with Ronon, if she focused on him instead of herself, if she concentrated on his mind and his pleasure, if the physicality of the act would keep his mind quiet, would allow her to have quiet, to enjoy the experience. She experimented a little, latching onto his mind while they went running, and yes, while he was engaged in physical exertion, his mind was pleasantly quiet (as opposed to Rodney's endless grumbling, or Teyla and Brendan's counting their steps, maintaining their rhythm). If there was one thing Ronon didn't have to think about, it was his own body. It did what he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted.  
  
Freya was so caught up in the quietness of his mind that she was unprepared for when he asked to speak to her, one day after running, and the quietness of his mind exploded into a litany even as his limbs stilled, cooled.  
  
 _Step off the path, step off the path, step off the path..._  
  
Freya was baffled by the phrase without context, but then Ronon said, "Amita, I would be honored if you stepped off the path with me."  
  
Freya blinked. "I...what does that mean?"  
  
Ronon ducked his head and actually blushed. "I - ask Teyla." And he darted into the men's locker room.  
  
So Freya asked Teyla, and Teyla explained that Ronon had been on a mourning path, mourning the loss of his world and his loved ones - possibly even someone like a spouse he'd left behind - and that path had been marked by physical discipline, asceticism, and celibacy. Some of that had been instilled by the Runner lifestyle, but some of that he had taken on himself. To be asked to accompany someone who stepped off the path was a great honor, but if Freya was uncomfortable -  
  
No. This was her chance.   
  
Freya smiled, thanked Teyla for the information, and excused herself.  
  
Found Ronon in the gym slinging around hapless marines with his bare hands.  
  
The marines stepped back, assumed Freya was there on AR-1 business, so Freya kept her tone as business-like as possible and said, "I spoke to Teyla, and I understand, and yes."  
  
Ronon inclined his head, like a knight to his queen, and said, "Thank you. We'll talk later."  
  
And Freya hurried away.  
  
Their conversation was short, to arrange a time when both of them had a free evening.  
  
And when that free evening finally came along, they met in Ronon's quarters, and they talked. Ronon looked ready to rescind his offer when he realized Freya had about zero sexual experience, but when Freya explained that she was stepping off her own path, he nodded, and he leaned in, and he kissed her.  
  
Ronon in bed was fierce, and gentle, and energetic, and languid. He was sweet and sharp. His hands were rough, but his skin was smooth where it wasn't battle-scarred, and he was so, so careful with Freya.  
  
And when he was beneath her, hands on her hips, guiding her gently, helping her settle into their shared rhythm, she took a risk, reached out to his mind - and let go of her own. The warm, peaceful silence was a delicious contrast to the fireworks going off under her skin, and when her climax hit, she let herself go.  
  
A thousand minds didn't descend on hers all at once.  
  
Just Ronon's quiet, serene presence, and then he was coaxing her down into his arms, rolling them so she was on her back, and he slid down her body and brought her over the top again, and again, and again, and when she finally had no more peaks to climb, he settled against her and held her while she drifted into dreamless sleep.


End file.
